"He's here to offer 'assistance healing.'"

[Halifirien]

I was 4k away from Lv 56 and being able to equip my Healer's Pantaloons. I put up my flag and got an invite to Gustav Tunnel. I've never partied there before, but one of the party's MNKs was at the entrance to meet me and guide me to the camp where we would be fighting goblins and robber crabs.

We're getting set up, and someone starts casting Protect IV on the party members. I look over, and there's a 71+ WHM casting on my party. The first fight starts, and the guy in the noble's tunic is throwing out cures and haste like they're going to be outlawed the next day.

After I asked two or three times what was going on, and the leader finally says "He's going to help us for a bit."

Mid-50s, and they've brought along a damned powerleveler.

"How long is he going to be here?" I asked.

"Until I leave," the leader said.

"Which is how long?" I asked.

"Two hours," the leader said.

"You need to find a new WHM," I said. "I don't do powerleveled parties."

"He's not powerleveling us," the leader said. "He's giving assistance healing to help us chain."

Clearly he wasn't reading the same log I'd been reading. "If this was the dunes," I said, "it would be called powerleveling."

The PL sent me a /tell asking if it was true I wanted him to leave, and I said "Yes, I do." He was more surprised than anything else; he said he'd never had anyone refuse a PL before. I started rattling off the same old list -- gimps your stats, doesn't teach you jack shit about the game, blah-blah-blah. He said he meant no disrespect.

We finally agreed he could stick around and give Raise III if anyone died, but otherwise he needed to keep his MP to himself. He was very nice about it. I'm sure the rest of the party was ready to wrap me up in a straitjacket and dump me somewhere.

It was a pretty bad party. We had a NIN tank who couldn't keep up with the the MNK and the DRG, so hate was bouncing around like crazy. We couldn't chain anything. It was very very sad. They thought it would be fun to fight that Wyvernpoacher NM and of course the tank and I died while the BLM escaped everyone else. I was only 800xp away from 56 and was more than happy when they said they wanted to disband.

I can honestly say that's the highest-level noob mindset I've encountered so far. If you need a PL to chain something, your party setup sucks and you should be fighting something else.

At least I got a Reraise III scroll as one of the drops.

 

[Braydon]

I don't blame you. XP isn't the only thing.

And why the hell did they get a whm anyway. If I had a lvl 75 WHM powerleveling, I would grabe a Paladin for tank, a bard for everyone's mp, and load up with blm. Kaboom.

 

[Rones]

Lvl 50+ party...no one should be still learning their job at that point. This game doesn't take a college degree to learn. There is no real downside to letting him pl. There are several occasions I have been bored or lfp and I would just pl a friend's party. Sounds like you just took it as a personal blow to your skills as whm, rather than just looking at it as less downtime.

 

[Bajaratt]

I agree with your position on the "extra healer" but by that level, a powerleveler wouldn't gimp your stats at all. Healing magic is the most worthless stat in the game, and that's going to be the majority of what you cast.

 

[Bajaratt]

Oh, I'm also curious as to who felt they needed a power level at 50+.

 

[Princemercury]

I would mind a PLer for a bad party.

 

[Princemercury]

wouldn't*

 

[Peregrine]

A solid party beats a poor but powerleveled one any day.
But you should have done it for the dragoon and monk man. Don't screw them just because you know you can go and find yourself a better alternative as soon as you leave. That may have been the dragoon's only shot at solid xp that week.

Refusing help when it's offered, IMO, is one step away from putting cannon onry in your search comment. There's nothing inherently wrong with powerleveling. If you're a pickup party player, you have to learn your job over and over each time you show up, because what you do changes in every party you come across. The concept that powerleveling causes poor job performance is false. And if the party is similar to what you've seen before, the new players aren't. In addition, in certain parties it does no one good to do your set job. Sometimes a perfect party doesn't log on. Sometimes the perfect party won't invite you. Some people can't afford to sit there and wait for Nin thf rng blm brd whm to come around. If the party would have worked with and only with a powerleveler, it's still a party. It's still xp. People still know their jobs just as much as they ever would have, except with that extra aid, they don't have to worry about carrying the label, weight, and stigma of their job. They can just fight to the best of their abilities. Maybe powerleveling could be for the general meleer what cannon parties are for elitist snots. But the elitist snots call powerleveling 2nd rate. They call it gimping and slacking. Why, becuase it makes 5 meleers devastatingly fast when neither tank nor mage is needed? Because it lets the dragoon get even half the xp that some spoonfed cannon bard demands? What is wrong with powerleveling? Answer: the people who are used to being put on a pedestal aren't useful in them, and they can't stand that.

No offense to anyone who would refuse a powerlevel. I just think it's rude to refuse one. I'm not saying you're an elitist snot. Just that elitist snots are the ones who are both forcing the dragoon to sit in Jeuno AND bashing one party setup that would invite a dragoon over many other "important" jobs. When is mnk mnk war drg thf rdm an awesome setup? When it's powerleveled.

 

[Anderithe]

A solid party beats a poor but powerleveled one any day.

Exactly.

 

[Mirewen]

Hey, I got cursed out by a Japanese White Mage for standing outside a pt chatting with a friend. They got bombed, I healed my friend (because after another gob was pulled she had yet to heal him) and she spammed the /say screen and my /tell screen with "woman leave". I tried to explain what I was doing and she left the party, they were lvl 67ish in Bibiki Bay. Take that for over-reacting. But yea, after a certain lvl, pl's aren't needed and I can see why a White Mage would get insulted at the implication that they can;t do their job properly. But just remember, the pl would have been there no matter what White Mage they got. It was nothing personal. I didn't get pl'd on my Black Mage at all because I thought the idea of "help" for something as simple as exping was rather odd. Maybe some people don't share the same idea of pl'ing as you do because they really do need the help. And if that's the case... I don't want to think about it.

 

[Peregrine]

A solid party beats a poor but powerleveled one any day.

Exactly.

So far, that is. However, I could set up a powerleveled party that would wipe the floor with the best traditional party. Well into the 50's. If powerleveling became accepted it would add to the game. Got a powerleveler? Your options bust wide open. It's amusing that I haven't seen one single player who can't play because they used to be powerleveled. But I've seen dozens who can't play because they used to be in a static or cannon. And what's even more amusing is that powerleveling is the alternative that gets bashed, while the accusers couldn't play their job outside of their little rehearsed playpen if their lives depended on it.

"I only party with a ranger and a blm."--proof that you're barking up the wrong tree. Powerleveling doesn't create gimps who can't play their job. Statics and cannons create gimps who can't function without their Gerber.

 

[Bajaratt]

A solid party beats a poor but powerleveled one any day.

Exactly.

So far, that is. However, I could set up a powerleveled party that would wipe the floor with the best traditional party. Well into the 50's. If powerleveling became accepted it would add to the game. Got a powerleveler? Your options bust wide open. It's amusing that I haven't seen one single player who can't play because they used to be powerleveled. But I've seen dozens who can't play because they used to be in a static or cannon. And what's even more amusing is that powerleveling is the alternative that gets bashed, while the accusers couldn't play their job outside of their little rehearsed playpen if their lives depended on it.

"I only party with a ranger and a blm."--proof that you're barking up the wrong tree. Powerleveling doesn't create gimps who can't play their job. Statics and cannons create gimps who can't function without their Gerber.

Powerleveling can make rng's and blm's who don't know the meaning of the word control. It can make tanks who don't even try to hold hate because they're used to a high level tanking for them. Healers with no skill at healing because they're used to someone else healing every one. And let's not forget the melee mages (/shudder).

 

[Peregrine]

And that's NO different from any other alternative leveling tactic. You don't see people bashing cannons and statics, even though they breed ineptitude and cluelessness. You can't honestly argue that it doesn't while arguing that powerleveling does. I know people who are INcapable of putting together and performing in a party involving any jobs but brd, pld, mage, and ranger. I have people claiming I'm lying that I can pull 6.5k an hour with a dragoon in the pt. It's not that hard. They're just that sheltered.

There's no difference between a static and a powerleveling. The only difference is that people like to look down on the general population, and powerleveling is catered to that ragtag team of good people who don't care if there are 4 meleers in the party. There's nothing wrong with powerleveling if there's nothing wrong with statics and cannons.

 

[Bajaratt]

And that's NO different from any other alternative leveling tactic. You don't see people bashing cannons and statics, even though they breed ineptitude and cluelessness. You can't honestly argue that it doesn't while arguing that powerleveling does. I know people who are INcapable of putting together and performing in a party involving any jobs but brd, pld, mage, and ranger. I have people claiming I'm lying that I can pull 6.5k an hour with a dragoon in the pt. It's not that hard. They're just that sheltered.

There's no difference between a static and a powerleveling. The only difference is that people like to look down on the general population, and powerleveling is catered to that ragtag team of good people who don't care if there are 4 meleers in the party. There's nothing wrong with powerleveling if there's nothing wrong with statics and cannons.

There is a MASSIVE difference between a static and a powerlevel.

A powerlevel is getting someone to help you do things you normally wouldn't be able to do, such as start a party with no healers or take on mobs too high for you to normally exp off of. As such, people might not learn what jobs are needed for a party or even where to party, since they have a high level to hold their hand through the entire party.

A static is a group of people who have chosen to make a fully functional party with the same 6 members. There doesn't have to be a rng or a brd, but people obviously like them. Statics allow you to party with people you've enjoyed partying with before, so you know how they play and won't have to worry about them doing something stupid. The only real downside to being in a static is that you can't just exp whenever you want, you have to wait for the other members.

I don't see any similarites other than both could be better than a regular pick-up party. The only way a static could bring cluelessness is in regards to the rep's of other players, which isn't a big deal. Ineptitude doesn't seem possible, since if someone sucked, they'd get booted from the static.

You may know people who can't function without a cannon, but those are the exception, not the rule. I was in a bones cannon once, and it didn't effect my skills in normal parties in the least. Before you say I can't argue against your point, why don't you prove it first.

 

[Peregrine]

A powerlevel is getting someone to help you do things you normally wouldn't be able to do

And that's exactly what a static does. If you take many people out of their static or cannon, they're not worth jack to anyone. Some of the worst players I've ever seen with their flag up were fresh out of broken statics, and people who liked to namedrop that they usually party with cannons. The people flat-out can't play. Now point to me one person who said, "Sorry guyz i dunno how 2 keep h8 bcuz my friend usually tanks 4 me."

Double standards abound here. You're quick to point out that statics and cannons producing a functional gimp is the exception, while powerleveling-produced gimps are the rule. I guarantee you the server has more people who can't play their job because all they know how to do is fight mandragora with 4 other rangers than it has warriors who got powerleveled through qufim and subsequently have no idea how to be warriors.

 

[Pascal]

If powerleveling became accepted it would add to the game.

My little brother would be an example of one. Thankfully he quit. He would literally go to sleep and wake up 1 to 2 levels up. In one case he went up 4 levels.

 

[Pascal]

Double standards abound here. You're quick to point out that statics and cannons producing a functional gimp is the exception, while powerleveling-produced gimps are the rule. I guarantee you the server has more people who can't play their job because all they know how to do is fight mandragora with 4 other rangers than it has warriors who got powerleveled through qufim and subsequently have no idea how to be warriors.

I think it’s more the fact there are crappy players every where. If you have good players in a static, they will still know how to function even out side of a static. Put crappy players in a static, they will still be crappy players.

 

[Peregrine]

Again, what you all don't like about powerleveling is that it doesn't include you and doesn't give a rip about some gunner's standards about what should and should not work. It simply does work. It is the general population's solution to imbalance. You know what--I'll take their solution over the other one quite frankly. It's just plain more fun. I went through qufim as a warrior tanking with a great axe while berserked. Yes, that's ghetto. Yes, that's stupid. But boy did the mobs die fast. Powerleveling is used by people you just LOVE to look down on from your sky perch. The only thing wrong with powerleveling is its perception.

Powerleveling is the infield at the derby. While the high society sips their julips up in the stands, some drunk topless woman sees the same race and wins the same money down in the field. They just do it a different way. You know you want to be that drunk topless woman sometimes. Sometimes there's nothing wrong with a drunk topless woman.

Ok USUALLY there's nothing wrong with a drunk topless woman.

Strike that. There's nothing wrong with a drunk topless woman. I mean powerleveling.

 

[Hecate]

A powerlevel is getting someone to help you do things you normally wouldn't be able to do

And that's exactly what a static does. If you take many people out of their static or cannon, they're not worth jack to anyone.

I ran into a RDM a few months back. Told me he/she was leveling NIN so he/she could use it in parties. I told him/her that NIN subs on RDMs were more for soloing than for exp parties. He/She proceeded to tell me he/she had a static and they were trying out subs that were not usually used. I swear I heard some odd combinations. Makes me wonder how they'll turn out to be... player wise.

But I do agree that having a static can "gimp" a player in experience. Once you're used to how certain people play, its hard to deal with other people who play differently. Though I do know people who have statics yet level other jobs with pick up parties. So not all static players are bad.

 

[Shakaar]

Heh I have my own PL story to tell tonight. I was leveling Ninja in the highlands when I get a /tell from someone in Gusgen saying they were in a PL party. I had JUST hit lvl 12 so I figured what the heck. XD I can get to 13 or 14 real quick then try subbing BST or partying in the dunes. Anyway, I get there and this is the party set up:

Notice the level 8 monk with no subjob. -_-
The puller of Skeleton Warriors?.....the Bard :shock:
The anon guy was some kind of melee job, didn't /check him.

Anyway this setup was a disaster, to put it nicely. The first fight goes well, we get 53 exp. XD 2nd fight takes forever for 129 exp. Third fight the BRD gets into the yellow from 1 hit, aggroing another skele.......yeah he died. 4th fight, the anon dude tries to pull, goes off down the left tunnel instead of back to us -_- Death to anon dude. I "accidently" turn off my modem, making it appear I DC'ed. :? (and I do feel bad for doing that, but it was the best way I could think of to get out of that situation without being extremely rude) No one else died thankfully, and when I came back on about 5 minutes later they agreed with me that I was killing exp and wasn't being of any help lol.

Heh never did mention the powerleveler. Didn't do too badly, just couldn't keep up with 5 people getting blood drained and aggroed left and right. XD Funny thing is, I soloed NIN to 13, then did a /sea area Gusgen and everyone in there was STILL the same levels as in the pic above. :shock: So I relearned a very valuable lesson tonight, accept NO PL PT invites from strangers LOL.